Tibetan refugees using Nepal as transit point before settling in India, says UNHCR official

The Deputy High Commissioner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) T. Alexander has said that Tibetan refugees have been using Nepal as the transit point before they take refuge in India.

"The UNHCR has been facilitating safer transit of Tibetan refugees to India, where they apply for refugee status," he told media persons at a press conference in Kathmandu while wrapping up his four-day visit to Nepal on Friday.

The UN refugee agency also stated that over 15,000 Tibetan refugees have been talking shelter in Nepal as per an estimation made prior to 1990.

The Deputy High Commissioner also reiterated that the United States has not announced the upper cap to accept Bhutanese refugees for relocation from Nepal.

"It is not that the U.S. will just absorb 60,000 of them. There is no upper cap in the figure," he said adding,"This year the UNHCR will resettle some 15,000 Bhutanese refugees."

The UNHCR officials also announced that as of May 31 65,194 Bhutanese refugees have been already resettled. Of this, the U.S. received 54,731 individuals.

During his visit, Alexander also called on Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bijay Kumar Gachchadhar, district level officials of Jhapa and visited some Bhutanese refugee camps. nepalnews.com